in california. and that was broderick i. back in new york where tom was a runner, torch boy, he had been in competition with broderick, and when broderick came west to make his fortune, he basically wanted to be a senator, that's what his plan was, and he did become a senator. tom came along, and an assortment of the weirdest guys you ever saw, the world's ugliest man, heavyweight champs, murderers, con men, i mean, just absolutely amazing people, i thought, well, i've got to write this. and as i'm working i realize -- and we are very close to it -- tom sawyer actually met mark twain in may of 1863 a about three blocks from here. in a steam room. and twain liked to talk to tom because tom knew these great stories. and they played cards and drank beer and went out drinking at night. so that was the genesis of it. i thought this has got to be written. so all these years of finding little bits and pieces of diaries, and that's how long it took. so this is the result. and i took out, as i do overdo stuff, 14,000 words. can you imagine? but i do love it, it's just the most fun. and i guess i
